 Between
1953 and 1971 the charismatic Swiss Mountain Grand Prix meeting
at Ollon-Villars became a glittering jewel in the crown of the prestigious
FIA European Mountain Championship. To celebrate the 50th anniversary
of the first race in 1953, the third historic edition of the legendary
Ollon-Villars hillclimb race took place on the weekend of 20 and
21 September 2003. The lovely village of Ollon is situated halfway
between Sion and Lausanne in Switzerland. The winding roadway from
Ollon to Villars (Chesières) is about 5 miles or 8 kilometers
long, very demanding and has numerous bends and corners. Ollon,
where the start is, has an altitude of 400 meters above sea level
but the finish in Villars-Chesières is on 1,208 meters altitude.
About 280 cars were entered with more than 70 coming from England,
Italy, France, Austria and Germany. Clearly the star car was the
sensational 1969 Ferrari 212 E Montagna Spider, chassis number 0862,
owned by Carlos Monteverde and raced by David Franklin. This is
the actual car which won the 1969 edition at Ollon-Villars, with
the Swiss hillclimb champion Dr. Peter Schetty at the wheel. Although
today this unique competition Ferrari has different bodywork than
in the late 1960s, it is basically still the same race car, chassis
and engine.
Also present at the 2003 Ollon-Villars historic race was the Tecno
Formula Two car which still holds the record with François
Cevert. Many of the legendary Swiss race drivers such as Marc Surer,
Jacques Cornu, Philippe Siffert, Baron Emmanuel “Toulo”
de Graffenried had entered in the fantastic weekend in the alps
of canton Vaud. The last real Ollon-Villars hillclimb took place
in 1971 and counted for the European Hillclimb championship. Since
the beginning in 1953, ten editions had been held with up to 40,000
spectators watching the elite drivers of the motorsport world. It
was the most beautiful and most prestigious European hillclimb race
starting in the vintner village of Ollon up to the station in Villars,
with the jagged outlines of the Dents du Midi and Mont Blanc mountains
providing one of the most spectacular and breathtaking backdrops
of any motor racing event.
The organizing committee of the 2003 historic hillclimb was SMO
(Sport Motorisés) and with the typical charm of the people
living in the French-speaking part of Switzerland the event was
organised quite well. There were a few logistic problems that hadn’t
been solved and the start of the cars had to be interrupted several
times because of small accidents and mishaps during the two days.
Motorcycles also starred at Ollon-Villars, with illustrious competitors
on both two wheels and three. One could see rarities from Ducati,
Kreidler, Bultaco, BSA, Kawasaki, Triumph, Norton-Manx or Benelli.
The original event witnessed ferocious European Championship competition,
most notably between Ferrari, Porsche and Abarth, while Formula
1 and even Indianapolis single-seaters also soared up the mountain
roadway driven by some of the greatest motor racing stars of their
era. Swiss names such as Toulo de Graffenried, Willy-Peter Daetwyler,
Hans Ruesch, Heini Walter, Jo Siffert, Herbert Müller, Peter
Schetty, Georges Gachnang, Sylvio Moser were regular participants
in the 1950s and 1960s and drivers from abroad included Jean Behra,
Maurice Trintignant, Huschke von Hanstein, Louis Chiron, Umberto
Maglioli, Lodovico Scarfiotti, Giampiero Biscaldi, Lorenzo Bandini,
Nino Vaccarella, Rolf Stommelen, Gerhard Mitter, Jack Brabham, Patsy
Burt, the sensational Jim Clark and François Cevert.
Although the 2003 event was heavily promoted by a well-known British
auctioneer, it was a bit surprising to see how many fakes and replicas
of genuine cars, not only Ferraris, were entered. Perhaps the organisers
lacked knowledge or they simply wanted to fill up the field? Several
Lancias, Abarths, Fords, Cobras, Alfas and Maseratis were total
replicas. It was rather disgusting to see that no fewer than five
Ferrari replicas attended at Ollon-Villars. This in addition to
five genuine Ferraris. Apart from the already mentioned 212 E Montagna
Spider the group of authentic Ferraris included a 275 GTB Berlinetta
with shortnose and in Scuderia Filipinetti racing colors. Peter
Heuberger raced his darkblue 250 GT Lusso and Antoine Midy brought
a darkblue 250 GT SWB Berlinetta. This is the last of a total of
167 units built and it has recently been repainted from red to dark
blue color. Also on hand was Marc Caveng’s 512 M which was
rebuilt using parts from three different chassis numbers 1022, 1032
and 1050. This car too was in Filipinetti race colors. Swiss collector
Erich Traber had cancelled his 212 Export Coupé Vignale and
250 MM Berlinetta and did not show up at Ollon.
Luckily spectators had to pay a minimal fee of ten Swiss Francs
(US$ 7) to watch the cars. It can be assumed that most people expected
genuine and authentic race cars and not that many replicas and fakes.
The legendary Dennis Jenkinson was perfectly right when in 1987
he said: “Historic cars and historic events imply the possession
of some history and not all the cars presented as historic can actually
claim any part of history.”
Only one owner, an Italian from Varese, clearly described and identified
his “Ferrari” as a replica. His car had two chassis
number plates with the word replica on it and even the race program
listed it as such. An Englishman and a Swiss both brought replicas
of Dino 206 S Spiders. One used the engine of a Dino 246 and had
already been witnessed earlier at both Rockingham and Goodwood.
The author considers it especially tragic that the president of
the only official and factory-authorized Swiss Ferrari Club drove
a “330 P4” replica in the event. Because of its wrong
proportions a yellow replica of a 250 GT SWB Berlinetta looked really
bad. Jenkinson also mentioned, that “as the years go by some
of these fake cars are becoming old enough to establish their own
history. If a genuine old Ferrari can show a continuous history
of 50 years, where do we stand with one that has a 10-year continuous
history, having been built as a “Facsimile” in –
say – 1993. Is it now a genuine fake?”
The official event poster and program featured Umberto Maglioli’s
Ferrari 750 Monza at the Aosta-Gran San Bernardo hillclimb in 1955.
Despite the fact that the organisers and promoters of the 2003 Ollon-Villars
hillclimb have their own definitions of what is historic, the event
was a success, also thanks to the fantastic weather and a lot of
regional wine.
Click
here for Ferraris at Ollon-Villars
© Marcel Massini 23/09/2003
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